Poor man's oysters

With our wine tips and recipes, you can be quite sustainable again, slow and above all, delicious food from these salty treasures of Zeeland.
Text: Marjolein Schuman | Image: Unsplash

The best recipe? Cooking with onion, celery and carrot and a splash of white wine or beer. Right off the fire, still in the pan, on the table. But oh well, those molluscs could use a bit more attention. Also called the oysters of the poor, they are nutritious and affordable. But also a delicious combination of salty and sweet, with the smell of the sea and a - let's say 'exciting' - soft mouthfeel. With the right preparation and wine to go with it, suddenly a delicacy. It's time for Zeeland mussels.

Plucked fresh from the sea

Mussel season runs from July to April the following year. Huh, didn't they used to say that the 'r' had to be in the month? Back then, that was mainly due to the lack of refrigerated transport - and the occasional flare-up of toxic algae which is now very well controlled. Nowadays, mussels can be transported and sold fresh even in the hot months of July and August. Some still swear by that time-honoured 'r' and then October might be the favourite mussel month. 

Mussel fishing has been taking place in Dutch coastal waters for a hundred and fifty years. The breeding areas are the Oosterschelde and the Wadden Sea. Together with the German Wadden Sea - also sold through the Dutch mussel auction in Yerseke - we are talking about seven thousand hectares. A mussel fisherman could well be called a farmer at sea. After all, the mussels start as seeds and are cultivated on plots, a kind of field in the shallow sea. In suspended culture, the mussel seed is put into long tubular nets. Absorbing food from the water is faster and the animals grow faster as a result. However, they do have a weaker shell than bottom culture. 

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